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SOURCES OF ENERGY USED BY HOUSEHOLDS

Almost all households in Australiaused mains electricity as a source of energy. One half of households (50%) used mains gas, one in five households used solar energy (20%), one in five households used LPG/bottled gas (20%), and 14% of households used another source of energy. (Table 1)

SOLAR ELECTRICITY

Across Australia, 14% of households had solar panels to generate electricity. This includes all households with solar electricity, with or without a solar hot water system.

The use of solar electricity varied between the states and territories: nearly one in four (24%) households in South Australia, one in five (20%) in Queensland and one in six (16%) in Western Australia used solar electricity. (Table 2 and Graph 1)

In New South Wales and Victoria, a significantly higher proportion of households outside the capital city used solar electricity compared to households in the capital city. (Table 2)

One half of households in Australia used mains gas as a source of energy (50%). In capital cities nearly two thirds of households (63%) used mains gas, and outside of capital cities over one quarter of households (27%) used mains gas. (Table 1)

The use of mains gas varied between the states and territories. In Victoria 83% of households used mains gas, over two thirds of households in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (69% and 68% respectively) used mains gas, over one half of households in South Australia (57%) used mains gas, 43% of households in New South Wales, 12% of households in Queensland, and 5% and 3% of households in Tasmania and the Northern Territory used mains gas respectively. (Table 1 and Graph 2)

Footnote(s): (a) Includes mains gas used inside and outside the dwelling.

The survey collected information on all sources of energy that a household used for hot water systems. Just over half of Australian households used electricity for their hot water system (56%), over one third used mains gas (38%) and 10% of households used solar hot water systems. A household may use more than one source of energy due to more than one hot water system or boosters on solar hot water systems.

The graph below shows the variation between the states and territories in the sources of energy used for hot water systems. (Table 3 and Graph 3)

Footnote(s): (a) More than one source of energy can be reported; (b) Includes the source of energy for the booster of a solar hot water system; (c) Includes 'mains electricity' and 'solar electricity'.

Over one third of households (38%) used electricity as the main source of energy for heating, and under one third of households (30%) used gas as the main source of energy for heating. Wood was used by 10% of households as the main source of energy for heating. (Table 4)

The graph below shows the variation between the states and territories of the main source of energy used for heating. (Table 4 and Graph 4)

Footnote(s): (a) Main source of energy for heating; (b) Gas includes mains gas and LPG/bottled gas.

Approximately one in five households in Australia (20%) did not use any heating. This ranged from 86% of households in the Northern Territory to 1% of households in the Australian Capital Territory not using any heating. (Table 4)

TYPE OF AIR CONDITIONING

Nearly one half of households in Australia (49%) used reverse cycle air conditioning as their main system of cooling. In 13% of households the main system of cooling was evaporative coolers, and in 10% of households it was refrigerated air conditioning which cools only. (Table 5)

Just over one quarter of Australian households (26%) did not use any air conditioning for cooling. This ranged from 48% of households in Tasmania to 4% of households in the Northern Territory not using air conditioning. (Table 5)

INSULATION

The majority of Australian households (68%) had some form of insulation in their homes. While 14% of households did not have any insulation, 18% of households did not know whether they had insulation. In Queensland approximately one in five households (21%) did not have insulation. (Table 6)

APPLIANCES IN HOUSEHOLDS

KITCHEN AND LAUNDRY APPLIANCES

Almost all households had a fridge and a washing machine. Over one half of Australian households had a dishwasher (55%), over one half of households had a clothes dryer (55%), and over one third of households had a separate freezer (34%). (Table 7)

When buying or replacing a kitchen or laundry appliance, energy star rating was considered by 52% of households when choosing a clothes dryer, 50% of households choosing a dishwasher, and 47% and 45% of households for a washing machine and fridge respectively. Water efficiency rating was considered by just under 40% of households when choosing a washing machine or dishwasher (39% and 38% respectively). Cost price was the other main factor households considered when choosing a kitchen or laundry appliance. (Table 8)

TELEVISIONS (TVs)

Nearly all Australian households (98%) had a TV with 43% of Australian households having only one TV. However, over one third of households had two TVs (35%), and one in every five households had three or more TVs (20%). (Tables 9 and 10)

TABLETS AND COMPUTER DEVICES

Just over half of households had a tablet (51%) and 44% of households had a desktop computer. Over two thirds of households had a laptop computer (69%) with 10% of all households having three or more laptop computers. Two thirds of households had a printer, scanner or fax (66%). (Tables 9 and 10)

SMART PHONES

Over two thirds of households had a smart phone (70%), with nearly one half of households (47%)having more than one smart phone. (Tables 9 and 10)

ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS

Nearly three quarter of households had a DVD/Blu-ray player (72%), over one half of households had a stereo system (53%), 44% of households had a digital box, one third of households (33%) had a mains powered games console, and nearly one quarter of households (22%) had a surround sound system. (Table 9)

MORE INFORMATION

Further data is available on request in regard to solar energy; energy sources for cooking; type and frequency of heating and cooling; whether households have ceiling fans; type and location of insulation; what window coverings households use; how many fridges households use and the age of fridges; frequency of use of dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers; temperature of water for washing machine; types of televisions; and whether televisions and entertainment systems are left on standby.

See the Data Item List on the Downloads tab for a complete list of the data items. All inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, or email client.services@abs.gov.au. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.